Dan Patrick

You might guess by now Dan Patrick is one of my favorite media guys. I go back back to his days on ESPN SportsCenter when he and Keith Olbermann would often cause me to laugh out loud with their commentary. In any event Patrick almost always says something that makes me think "boy I wish I'd said that!" His latest was on his Monday morning radio/television show. Patrick said " I understand why CBS has Charles Barkley and Kenny the Jet working the NCAA but the manner they are being utilized is incorrect." Patrick went on to say he thinks both would be better utilized "addressing the NBA potential of collegiate players." I'm paraphrasing Patrick's comments but you get the idea the general idea I hope. You might not agree with Patrick's view but it makes sense to me. We have two former NBA players who both cover the NBA for television providing commentary on college games and players.

No more

The joke once said there were only two sports in the State of Texas, football and spring football. That old joke has certainly been kicked to the curb, the state now produces an abundant number of top notch basketball talent. The state produces so much talent just like football they cannot retain all the talent within the state boundaries. Just a couple of players we spotlight are two McDonald All-Americans, they are Isaiah Austin a 7-footer from Arlington Texas will arrive in the fall at Baylor. In addition Cameron Ridley a 6-10 245 pound center is headed to Texas to play for Rick Barnes. Looking over Rivals list of the top 150 players there are several more who will arrive at college or university in the state. I think Mizzou would be willing to take the left-over's if they are as talented as Flip Pressey from Dallas. Wonder if A&M will be able to recruit in their backyard while competing in the SEC?

"Must be the shoes"

I apologize for stealing the Mars Blackmon line from those Air Jordan commercials back in the day. I just ordered another pair of basketball shoes, they are black Reebok low cuts. While we all realize Nike is the world wide leader I was curious what the folks around me wore. Are we loyal to a particular brand or style? Marketing certainly has some input into our buying decisions, I say this based on a story (if true) I read and detailed for you last week. Adidas was reported to be in the middle of the Dwight Howard story. Adidas man Derrick Rose is in Chicago and unconfirmed reports were Adidas was open to Howard going anywhere except Chicago. For marketing purposes they wanted Dwight Howard to remain in Orlando. My survey has no scientific merit just opinions by those who buy the shoes. The brands identified, purchased and worn over the years have been New Balance, Reebok, Nike, Adidas, Converse, Starbury and Pay-Less. Rob, a former Mizzou baller informed me "I wore Nikes while in school but I wore them all, Reebok, Adidas, Starbury even Pay-Less. Nike is the best for durability and wear." One son indicates he had no preference but says "I played in Converse Chuck Taylors which are trendy now." My son in Dallas says "Nike and for the style, started off with Converse and then switched to New Balance and finally to Nike." One son is an Adidas man "influenced by Run DMC and their Adidas shoes, when I began playing soccer he noted most players in the '80's wore Adidas," He says "I haven't owned a pair of Nikes since the late '80's." As for me, back in the day "I wore Converse almost exclusively, even had a pair of L.A. Gear shoes at one time. I hadn't seen a store with L.A. Gear in such a long-time I did an on-line search and they are still in business. Now I buy what I think looks cool and stylish, in my closet today I have Nike, Converse, Adidas and 2 pair of Reebok's, I'm not beholding to any brand." AND 1 signed twins Marcus and Markieff Morris former Kansas Jayhawks to a shoe deal this week, I took a look at their shoe line--pretty cool. Marcus Morris plays for the Rockets while brother Markieff plays for the Suns.

Only one more perhaps, but there could be more

I've reported numerous stories of complaint related to Barclays Center none of which are basketball related. There have been so many I probably am missing a few. To refresh your memory there was the the resident parking compliant, then the sidewalk problem, the sidewalks around the arena were not as wide as they should have been. Then it was reported two police department precincts were vying with each other to determine which precinct would be responsible for policing responsibility in and around the arena. A decision was finally reached and the precinct furthest from Barclays was given jurisdiction, makes sense doesn't it? We had food vendor complaints, construction noise complaints and now the latest. "Norman Oder, an opponent of the project discovered Brooklyn Water to be sold in the arena is not bottled in Brooklyn! Oder indicates Bruce Ratner made a big deal about seeking Brooklyn vendors yet this water is bottled in and shipped from Florida." (gothamist.com)

The countdown has begun, well maybe!

Lakers. Lakersground.net probably the largest Laker fan website has a poll. They are polling Laker fans as to when Mike Brown will be fired. The problem it appears Brown's lost this team, Kobe and then Bynum. The bigger issue is if he's terminated who replaces him? This team (because of it's history) probably needs a veteran coach, this rules out Brian Shaw with only assistant coach experience. Besides the fact Shaw probably is more familiar with the triangle offense, I'm unsure if the Lakers want to return there. Current Cavs coach and former Laker Byron Scott is out there, would they hire him? One name would cause me to have my Laker fan card shredded, Jeff Van Gundy. This is going to require research on my part, standby for further updates. NOTE: I think the only safety net for Brown at this stage, he manages to steer the team to the NBA championship win or lose he probably keeps his job. Based on their exhibition against the Thunder I am extremely concerned.